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2013-08-25 - Mission: Intergang: Recon Only
Intergang... ...a crime family of sorts with a religious fanaticism to them. Energy weapons from another world, they are registered as highly dangerous where a criminal profit can be made. The death of Kingpin has left a vacuum here in New York City, one this gang is more than willing to fulfill. That is what brings Batman here tonight. This is a war that he is used to fighting every night in Gotham City, but not one the heroes of the other Earth seem as familiar with. Right now he is atop a roof top, one knee resting against the edge of the building while is other foot rests flat against the roof top. He watches a building, waiting. Within that building is a group of Intergang members, one if its local leaders Marvin Meltin is currently ranting and raving at how ineffective his peons are while Batman holds a finger over one hidden ear, making use of a listening device. The gang resistance has been higher than expected in Hell's Kitchen, more organized than Intergang expected. But that is not the major issue right now. What is important is something that draws Batman's sharp-eyed gaze toward a nearby alleyway. Some gang members heavily armed are moving toward the Intergang building. A low growl of annoyance comes from Batman, a sound of great displeasure. So much for this being an information recon mission only. Completely oblivious to anything violent about to happen, Mel is just minding her own business going bar hopping. She doesn't seem that drunk yet, though she does stumble briefly over a rough spot on the sidewalk in front of the building Batman is observing. The tattooed woman curses her clumsiness, half catching herself against the building. Instead of continuing on her way, she half falls to lean her back against the wall, sighing as the residual heat radiates into her to warm her shadow chilled bones. She doesn't appear to notice the gang members closing in on her momentary resting place, just taking a few minutes to breathe and check herself over to make sure she didn't sprain anything when she tripped. It wasn't the first time that Intergang had shown up in New York, though the few times that the 'local heroes' had run into them it was a hit on a bank. One right across from the Avenger Academy which had seemed fishy to America--Only someone supremely stupid would do that and they seemed far too organized for that. It was more like a test to see what the response would be. Which is why when she catches wind from the gangs that they would be putting the hurt on the 'new people on their turf' she had a similar idea in mind as Batman. Following along the gang heading for the warehouse that Intergang was she's allowed a prime view as she flies unseen in the night sky. It gives her a perfect vantage point to spot a figure on the rooftops as well. Was that...? With a scowl she lands lightly on the roof behind Batman, arms crossed over her chest. "Bit far from home aren't you?" The Latina glances to the side at the approaching gang only to give a shake of her head. This wasn't really the time to have a heart-to-heart. Tapping her fingers against her elbows she frowns deeply watching what was going on below... and Mel? "Mierda. If you got a plan best spill, otherwise I'm going with 'punch everything.'" Even as she says this she starts for the edge of the room intending to deal with the gang, perhaps even Mel, before they got to the warehouse and all hell breaks loose. "You are interfering." Batman does not even look back at the Latina, as if he knew she was there. Then again, he is used to dealing with Superman, so not unsurprising there. His voice is growling, deep and a bit rough, and his tone unfriendly. "Helpful would be you grabbing the drunk girl and leaving," the word leaving having emphasis. He does not ask or request assistance... ...instead, Batman pushes off the edge of the roof and with a spread of his cape, starts to glide swiftly down to ground level. The gangsters are luckily not paying too much attention to Mel until they get right up to the building. Only then does the tipsy girl likely suddenly find a gun shoved in her face, "Scream, and I shoot," the gangster threatens. They want quiet as they work toward the doors and windows, guns ready. And even as they start to smash through windows and bust open the front door, Batman is there... ...his booted feet landing squarely on the back of the man pointing the gun in Mel's face even as one hand frees a Batarang to toss at another gangster to nail him in the wrist. Blood drips, but the gun drops from the gangster's hand even as he screams in pain. Mel is completely ignored, no assurance or offer of assistance sent her way after the THUMP of the gangster hitting the ground with Batman standing on his back. Suddenly finding a gun shoved in her face has Mel going cross-eyed for a moment before she looks past the weapon at the man holding it, her expression quickly shifting through both fear and anger. She doesn't scream, but she does scowl at the gangster. Apparently, she's been spending too much time in the shadows, lately... "You sure you want to play that game, bud-" She cuts off as some guy in a bat costume swoops down and knocks the gangster down. That's when the tattooed woman does scream, "Holy fucking hell!" No, she's not upset in the least that someone just took the guy holding a gun on her down, but a little warning would have been nice! She flattens herself back against the wall as closely as possible, trying to stay out of the way and appearing suddenly very sober, "What the hell is going on here?" No, it's not really that unreasonable for her to have ended up in the middle of a situation she's not prepared to handle, but she'd still like to know why everyone seems intent on either hurting her or attacking/defending the building she just happened to trip over a crack in the sidewalk in front of. "Yeah, I get that a lot. Kind of my thing." This is the only reply that America offers to the Batman about 'interfering' before she steps off the edge of the building herself allowing gravity to take hold and simply pull her down. He's beaten her to taking out the gunman that had leveled it on Mel but she lands beside the woman with arms crossed over her chest, and a deep breath drawn. When Mel screams however she winces raising a hand to wiggle a finger in her ear. "Ow. Gang war, chica, gonna get messy. Want to help or need a lift somewhere safer?" Her hand falls away from her ear to jerk a thumb upward in offering of getting Mel to the roof where, presumably, she would be out of the line of fire. One would hope. Inside, Intergang is starting to scramble for their weapons and to duck behind furniture and hide behind walls. Mr. Melvin doves beneath his desk, which is quite a heavy duty oak desk to help protect him from stray bullets. There is a scream of pain as someone inside falls down to the ground, unknown status on living or not. Batman is still moving, soon kicking off the guy's back that is out cold as his chin hit the ground, the gun clattering away. His body flips backwards, a rustle of his black cape. Even as he lands, he does so where he is low to the ground so the bullet fire sent his way goes over his head and tosses out these little grenades at groupings of gangsters, sleeping gas being released. The Dark Knight does not linger, merely departing with a, "Go with her," growl as he moves through the busted door inside to start to bring down the Intergang members. Not all the gangsters are down outside, but most of them are, but only one is down for the Intergang members and a death count is still a high risk right now if the dark crusader is not quick with his actions. Of course in the back of his mind, the frustration over one very slow and disobedient young heroine is bothering The Batman. Mel's eyes widen a little at the thought of getting caught in the middle of a gang war, but she shakes her head in response to the offer of getting to safety. Instead, the closest shadows seem to suddenly swarm toward her, wrapping her in darkness from her Mohawk down to her sneakers, "I think I'll be fine, thanks." Her voice from the shadows is cold and almost eager at the thought of lending a hand to two obvious superheroes, "Just tell me what to do." For starters, she begins by lobbing a few shadow balls at those still standing. Sure, they don't actually do anything, but at least it's distracting to have a shadow suddenly surround your head, right? Batman gets a glare from the darkness she's hiding in, "I'm not going anywhere." Instead pitching a ball of shadow at the middle of his back out of pure spite. Shadow. Inky black shadow which rushes around Mel has the corner of her lips quirk in faint amusement. The response to stay, and help, is taken in stride however--Unlike her current counterpart she wasn't against help. Pushing off from the building she heads straight for the remaining few gang members out here. "Lights out, chica," she offers as a suggestion even as she moves with a sudden speed forward. The first guy is punched right in the gun. Yes, the gun. Her fist impacts with the barrel of it causing any further bullets to jam in the device. The momentum and strength of her punch however slams the gun and the man's hand right back into his face taking out two for one. Her free hand snaps out to grab him by the front of his shirt only to throw the gangmember directly at the others. The gunfire from outside at least starts to die down as she takes out weapons, and weapon holding hands, summarily knocking out as many as she can with a single blow to render them unable to fight. The fact that many of them couldn't even see what was going on thanks to Mel's shadows certainly helped the body count littering the streets outside pile up as America flings herself from one to another. Those who ran she doesn't bother with--The main issue she's concerned with is making sure there's no loss of life from cross fire right now. Having picked up her speed she tosses a quick wave toward the general direction of the shadow covered Mel. Then she's gone in a blur of red, white and blue streaking up toward the sky. The cacophony that the ceiling breaking open in the center of the Intergang group is as obvious as the young superheroine that crash lands on a group that were scrambling to get weapons out. It put her dead in the center of the chaos making her a prime target for those with weapons already out--A fact she seems to be aware of as she grits her teeth preparing to take the impact of such weapons already and hoping that her presence would draw the attention of the gang so that Mr. Sneaky-Pants could do his thing without getting shot in the face. Or something. Great...another disobedient female. Batman really wishes they came with warning labels. His cape flaps as it works to dislodge the shadow if it strives to cling, as he darts into the rooms after a smoke bomb, to take care of its occupants. A gas mask had been slipped over his face earlier, to prevent irritation from the smoke bomb. Still, there is danger in this if the men outside are not handled properly. Even as the thumps and cries of pain are silence begin, outside the few gangsters are trying to fire either into the smoke or at America and Mel now. Not that their shooting is very good, since they are trying to get rid of shadow blobs to actually see clearly... ...actually, this leaves them completely open for America's follow-up attack. As she steadily and quickly takes out the few remaining men outside, her crash through the building and into the middle of the meeting room may not have gone exactly as planned with the smoke. But in the end, it actually ended up quite perfect... ...the smoke is forced away by the impact of her landing as it was already starting to thin, and Batman is forced to slide back. The oak desk she lands on crumbles, and flies apart, tossing Marvin Melvin for quite a loop! He is knocked back against a wall with a grunt, and then sags down to the ground. The gun he was holding while hiding sliding down to the ground harmlessly. The cleared away smoke now reveals the crumpled Intergang members. Still, rather than yell at America who may have helped Batman not get shot in the back by Marvin Melvin, Batman heads toward the fallen Intergang member. He pulls something out of a pouch and sprays it on the bullet wound the Intergang member has, slowing the bleeding down quickly with it. And yes, for some reason, that black glob is still clinging partially to the back of Batman's cape. Apparently, The Dark Knight has issues with saying 'Thank You'. And the lights do go out for many of the gang members. Once they're unconscious, however, Mel doesn't bother to hold onto the shadows blinding them, instead making her way inside with a wall of insubstantial black shadow before her. Unless one of the people inside have night vision goggles, she figures she's probably safe enough from being targeted directly, so pushes the wall of darkness out to cover the room, "Hope you can see in the dark, dude!" That's directed toward the caped figure, though the warning comes a little late as the cool shadows drasticly mute the light inside, darkest in the area immediately surrounding the mutant. When one of the men that are already down starts clumsily fumbling for the gun just out of reach, she snarls and runs over to kick him in the head. Hard. America doesn't seem very surprised that she lands on something breakable. That tended to happen a fair amount. When Marvin flies back and the barrel of a gun is stuck out from beneath the desk crumpled under her she merely gives a small 'Hmm' at the apparent perfect timing. Even Noh-varr would have been hard pressed to time THAT right. Quickly looking up she gets a lay of the land and the fact that most of the gang inside were out of commission before the lights go out. Unfortunately, she can't see in the dark, either. A bright blue glow of illumination comes as her Stark Phone 5 comes out to be held up casting a glow where the inky shadows don't stick, or at least trying to. "All clear, chica. Gracias for the assist," she calls out to inform Mel that the majority were already taken care of. Even before she got there. Though he might not be mister talkative she does ask, "Want me to call in the local clean up crew or do you need to talk to some of these guys first?" A tap to the side of Batman's cowl, and the night lenses in his mask activate instead of the ones he had taken down prior. "I had it handled," he growls out at Mel. "And restrain yourself," the warning clear. He knows about the Shadowlands, and this feels much like Obsidian's powers. And perhaps Mel should pull those shadow powers back quickly, because when Batman looks toward America to glower at her, it's really, really creepy in the eerie glow of her Stark Phone. Well, unless she finds it comical, he does appear a little ghoulish in the light. "I have what useful information can be obtained at this point." Basically yes, he would appreciate it if she handled the call to police and saved him the extra work, that is very polite of her to offer. But that's alright, most people don't quite get Bat speech. Slowly, Mel releases the shadows she shrouded the area with, smirking a little at Batman when she holds a midnight black scrap over her back in a mocking imitation of his cape for a few seconds before letting it go as well. She's left shivering slightly once the shadows are gone, the sound of her teeth chattering clearly audible to anyone within five feet of her, "S-sure. No problem." She grins at the younger woman and shrugs, "Anything to help out." She doesn't leave yet, just in case she needs to talk to the police and give a statement, or something. She looks at Batman, rolling her eyes, "Oh, please... It's not like I killed anyone." She waves vaguely in the direction of the two heroes, "I didn't hit him any harder than the two of you hit any of the others." He'll have one hell of a headache when he wakes up, though! The tattooed woman folds her arms over her chest, appearing completely sober after the fight. America was not most people. Nor was she about to call the local police. A single nod is all that's given as she drops her eyes to glass-like surface of the phone sweeping her fingertip over it a moment to pull up the number she intended. It's raised to her ear as she starts to do a slow walk-around kicking weapons away from fallen individuals, and making certain no one was 'faking'. "Stark. Got some clean up in Hell's Kitchen. Looks like that 'Intergang' group again." A pause comes, and she states, "You call it in, you know I don't like publicity." Another pause and she shrugs before muttering, "Gracias." The phone is clicked off and instead she holds up the device taking a slow turn-around to video tape the area before slipping it away finally. Never hurts to have things to review before it's combed over by the police." The Latina shoots Mel a glance, and a quick nod. "Better not have. I don't go there, chica." And America saves Batman the effort. But there is a glower in Mel's direction as a tap to the side of his cowl removes the night vision lenses and replaces them with milky white ones that cannot be seen through from the outside. He picks up an energy weapon for evidence to see if there has been any adaptation to the technology as he starts to take his leave. "Help yourselves," he grounds out, not appearing to wish to linger and discuss things over. The problem with Batman, is he can be a team player at times, but typically only when he is in control. With these women? No one is in control. "No, I held back, 'chica'." Mel's tone is mocking and she rubs her hands on her arms, trying to warm up. It's been a long time since she spent that much time in the shadows, but she's been using them more lately, so... Ugh. She's cold and she's grumpy, now! She scowls at the cowled man as he starts to leave, "Wait a minite, buddy. I have no idea who either of you are, and I'm going to have to know what names you go by when you're saving people if I'm going to let my followers know why I was able to post on my blog tonight!" She smirks, her eyes shining, "Not to mention everyone's completely going to flip their shit when I tell them I helped stop crime." Usually it was America that was doing the one punching and leaving. The fact that Batman is doing so now doesn't seem to really rub her wrong if only for the fact that it means she can't do it herself. Reaching down she scoops up one of the Intergang rifles to sling over her shoulder as a 'peace offering' for interrupting Tony during his work. It's Mel she turns toward with a frown upon hearing her remarks. "Ai dios mio. Another blogger. Please tell me you and Hero Girl aren't BFFs? Or whatever name she's using now." Shaking her head she walks over some bit of rubble letting it crunch beneath her feet. If he answers he answers, she's not filling it in--For all she knew it wasn't who she thought to begin with. "You should get some rest and food. You look worn out." This is offered to Mel as she, too, appears to be heading out though with far less flash than Batman might. Capes weren't her thing. There is no introduction as Batman keeps on walking, and when outside - well - he will use a grapple line to get to a roof top, and start to get the hell out of dodge as they say. He is wise in that way. Mel rolls her eyes, "No, I blog about government cover ups and hero sightings." She wrinkles her nose, "That bitch is just a poser that only posts things to get page hits." She frowns a little when it's suggested that she get rest and food, shaking her head, "I'll be fine after I get some coffee." And then Batman is gone without even letting her know who he is! She tries to grab America's arm, fully intending on grilling the younger woman on both her name and the mysterious man's, "Come on... Just names. I don't even have a camera to post pictures!" She gives the Latina a sly look, "Don't tell me you don't know who you were fighting beside..." Maybe she can shame her into giving up names? America pauses when Mel grabs hold of her arm to beg for names. The dig against Hero Girl as well causes her jaw to twitch. "She may be flashy but she does help." It's a bit of a defense against her friend in spite of her earlier remark. Just because she wasn't fond of publicity didn't mean that everyone else had to adhere to it. Glancing back to Mel she gives a shake of her head stating quite honestly, "Never met him before. I was following the gang, he was already here. Just happened that way. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get this to a friend." "Well, can I at least get your name? Just something to call you so that the public knows that there's another hero out here protecting them!" Mel does her best to be a fast talker, but she's probably coming across as more than a little desperate. For all she thinks Hero Girl is just out there trying to become famous, she's really just doing the same thing, "It's my responsibility to keep the public informed about what's going on in the city." She's apparently willing enough to let the other hero's name go, as long as she can get the name of the one that can fly. America shuts her eyes tight a moment suddenly wishing she hadn't asked, or allowed this woman to help. Her fingers curl into a fist and she yanks her arm away from Mel's grip. When her eyes open again she glances up toward the ceiling contemplating before she simply offers up, "Just call me Hellion." It wasn't her name. No, it certainly wasn't. Hellion wasn't even a female... but she had a feeling that this girl may not know. Hopefully she wouldn't and so she heads out unless stopped again. "Hellion..." Mel looks thoughtful, going over her mental list of known superheroes and suddenly grins, "Thanks, Hellion! Look me up online if you ever need help again." She rattles off the address of her blog, "I'll be there as soon as I can!" She doesn't stop the red white and blue clad hero again, instead heading off in the direction of the nearest coffee shop to get something to warm herself with and then head home. She has a post to write! Article: (IT: 2013-08-25 - Mystery Man, Gangs, and Hellion!)